BOOK OF STORIES In Their Own Words 2020 artwork by Meriel Bacon Table of Contents Aditya Deelwal 1 Afaf Al-Yahek 2 Amina Alfalah 4 Awet Gebru 6 Aya Jabawi 8 Cirese Joseph Samson 10 Claire Martinez 12 This special 30th Anniversary Edition of “In Their Own Words” is a collection of newcomer youth David Bankole 13 award-winning essays that speak notably to the personal immigrant and refugee journeys of 31 Dymple Dalumpienes 14 scholarship award winners in this 30th year of services. The aura that surrounds this great read is generated by the power of voice of talented and aspirational young men and women who are Edom Ytbarek 16 the future of the next economy and whatever these youth achieve in the future is the greatest gift Eno Ashory 17 of life. Each story shares a unique experience, has a special nuance and reminds the reader that Ernesto Gibessa 19 adversities will always walk beside us in life, but dreams are worth pursuing. These inspirational stories are defined, by courage, perseverance, passion and resilience. As you read “In Their Gifechi Dikeukwu 21 Own Words” it is apparent that The Calgary Bridge Foundation for Youth inspire youth, and in Jay Solana 23 the words of Maya Angelou “not merely to survive, but to thrive” through equitable and engaging programs and services and through a simple philosophy. “We are who we are because of who we Jiaying Yu 24 were and where we come from and we should be proud of ourselves.” Jessica Varghese 26 Juan Lamus 28 Thank you to all award donors for recognizing these exceptional individuals and for your service to humanity. Kristine Altahsh 30 Umashanie Reddy, Chief Executive Officer Lorena Berguno-Astorga 31 Mary Franchesca Crisostomo 33 Meriel Bacon 35 Niccole Cuadra 36 Nisreen Abdo 38 Precious Hilario 40 Sohil Agrawal 42 Sri Anshitha Arva 44 Victor Chen 46 Vivian Obiakor 48 Yasmin Abdo 50 Yimin Dong 53 2017 2018 2019 Yohan Bryant 54 Table of Contents Table of Contents Forest Lawn High School, Gr. 12 James Fowler High School, Gr. 12 Aditya Deelwal New Beginnings Scholarship Afaf Al-Yahek Calgary Board of Education Scholarship Have you ever wondered what it is like to not be able express yourself and let the adversities in your Life is a journey that must be travelled no matter how bad the roads and conditions are. This is what life be an evil force that holds you back? A lot of people have negative experiences which could I was sure of when I first stepped outside of my small, warm village. To this day, a distinctive smell influence building someone’s identity and personality however, these experiences can change of the green fields lingers in my heart. I knew then that by leaving our homeland, it will be impossible someone. Where people can get inspired and inspire to make changes in society therefore the to return there again and our life will no longer be the same as it was. power voice is very crucial. I think that the most distinct ideas that could impact someone’s life are I am one of thousands of girls who have a similar story and have experienced the same awful being resilient and having a power of voice. experiences of war. My name is Afaf Al Yahek and I am 18 years old and in grade 12 at James Fowler High School. I have been living in Canada for almost three years, but I’m originally from First and foremost, I believe that being resilient is definitely a choice that requires a lot of will power Syria. In some provinces in my country, such as where I came from, women are considered useless when someone is met with adversities. I have been through resilience in my life by coming to a totally and are marginalized in society. Their place is supposed to be in the kitchen. Luckily for me, my different country and overcoming my challenges such as finishing school, trying to fit in the culture, father is very open minded and a lover of learning. He encourages me and my siblings to complete making new relationships, meeting new people and many more issues that anyone migrating from our studies and always do our best. Because of his motivation, nothing will stop me from achieving one place to another feel. I think that resiliencies also tie in with hope where someone can hope to my goals. have a better future then the current state of a person who is probably suffering in life. I think that in my life I have been through this big transition in life where I had to leave behind a very comfortable My family has eight members and being the oldest child is not always easy as I have many and well-set life. This put me through difficulties like fitting in and not being able to feel at home this responsibilities and always want to do something worthwhile and helpful for my family. So, I decided mental stress and toll led me to have bad grades in school. But I was resilient enough to bounce to complete my studies after I had lost hope and was completely desperate to achieve my dream back and find success. and make my parents proud of me. Secondly, I think that power voice is a very important thing that people should consider and not My journey began when my father finally called us to pack up and get ready to travel to Damascus, take it for granted. Having a power of voice can make big changes in someone’s life. I think that it Syria’s capital city. At that time my sister and I were living away from our parents and siblings and means to be strong, knowledgeable, valiant, and brave in order to express yourself effectively and we really didn’t understand why they were in Damascus. A few weeks later however, we managed make people listen to what a person has to say. Power of voice can inspire empower, make bailiff, to book a flight ticket to Damascus. After the plane landed, I looked for my dad among the crowd. I make someone aware and most of all give them hope to be more resilient through their adversities. had missed him so much that I was about to hug a stranger because he looked like Dad. Finally we Power of voice can help people showcase their true self to other people and can help them get out met and then went to the place where my parents lived. It was a small room and a shared kitchen their inner isolation with solidarity and support from others to support the individual to persevere with poor conditions. I didn’t really care whether it was fancy or poor, all I wanted was to see my through their difficulties. family, and all of us united under one roof. Suddenly, I had the most shocking moment of my life when I saw my 12 year-old brother. I barely recognized him. The last time I saw him he had long So, I think that changes can occur in people’s life for the beast and for the worst but being resilient thick hair and exotic, angelic eyes with bewitching eyelashes. Now all I saw was a bald head and and speaking up for yourself can make patients enough to go through them. dull skin ripped by the IV needles and chemotherapy. When I learned that my little brother was fighting with leukemia, a deadly type of cancer, I started looking for a way to help him overcome his pain. So, despite all the love I carried for education and school, I decided to leave school and move to Lebanon to find a job so I could assist my family with all the treatment expenses. Later on, the rest of my family followed us to Lebanon. While my sister and I kept working hard, my father would take my brother every 15 days for his treatment. Everything my family and I went through was so much to handle. Meanwhile we were witnessing many Syrian families giving in to their sad, inhumane circumstances. We had managed to get ourselves together and to keep fighting for life and for our future. My family was able to overcome all those tragedies by having faith and hope for a better tomorrow. Coming to Canada was a huge step towards that future. Having a safe home and time to reflect and begin to move on was just what we needed at the time. Having a fresh start is not as easy as it sounds as every experience comes with its own challenges. My biggest challenge as a newcomer 1 Aditya Deelwal Afaf Al-Yahek 2 Table of Contents Table of Contents was learning English. Even though I had no English and was put in the ESL classes, things started James Fowler High School, Gr. 12 to get better for me. I managed to move into the mainstream in less than two years after receiving Amina Alfalah CBFY Board of Directors Scholarship the Standard ELL student award. Mastering English was my major goal, because it is the basis for Believing in Dreams everything from normal conversations to high academic achievement and it is my showing I am a proud new Canadian. You have to believe that your goals are achievable. When you I put all my attention on mastering English and took every opportunity available in my school to believe that, your mind looks for ways to make them happen.